Friday, October 31, 2014

This painting brings to a close my work done at Paint the Peninsula 2014. On the last day The Port Angeles Fine Art Center was open to the public for the final exhibition and sale of all the paintings completed during the week. I had volunteered to do a painting demonstration picking the still life setup outside. It was yet another sunny, beautiful day. Using my only large canvas and biggest brush, I quickly rendered the subject.
I received many great comments and liked the way the painting came out so I took it into the gallery still fresh with wet paint and leaned it on the floor against my wall of paintings in the exhibition hoping for a sale.

At the Fine Art Center

As you may be able to guess....and while I was distracted doing something else....a sweet little old lady , with her little dog, was allowed into the gallery. She went right over to the snack table, got a plate of artichoke dip and some crackers and started viewing all the paintings. When she got to my wall, while leaning over closely inspecting the work, she dropped a glob of artichoke dip on the wet painting leaning against the wall. Her dog, alert to any complimentary hors d'oeuvres offered, immediately licked the dip off the painting along with my signature.....

It was a fairly easy fix and I got over it after awhile....and now I can even laugh about it! But I am happy to say the policy has now changed to NO dogs allowed in the gallery at The Fine Art Center! Also, I will NOT be leaning wet paintings against walls at a public display again! That was a dumb idea to begin with!

Again, I had a blast meeting and painting with all the other artists and the staff of PAFAC. Here are the other winners in the competition, Sorry for the quality of the pictures it was the best I could do in the gallery lighting.

Thursday, October 30, 2014

The gate to the marina was left open so I slipped through and set up on the access ramp for this painting. A few minuets later a large group of people filed by commenting on the work in progress and saying that the whale watching tour was a blast.. Guess it was okay for me to be there.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Last year at Paint the Peninsula I spent most of the week painting boats around the marina areas. This year I spent more time out in the parks.
After the Yellow House painting I decided to head over and have lunch at Donna's Fishermans Wharf Café that I remembered being the best fish and chips ever!.. and then paint some more boats!

Monday, October 27, 2014

After coming back from LaPush and a restful nights sleep at my wonderful host house I found myself driving around without a plan of what to paint. Realizing a lot of precious time would be wasted by not getting busy, I stopped right where I was and painted what was in front of me. Sometimes this tactic can get your creative juices flowing again when you are feeling stagnant, especially during a competition.

This painting was awarded an honorable mention by our juror Jim Lamb in the overall painting competition.

Saturday, October 25, 2014

As the clouds and fog rolled in towards the end of the day telling me it was time to pack up and head for the stair trail I managed to get one last painting.

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Maria Josenhans

When I arrived at Second Beach there was only one other artist in sight and I went over to say hi. I met Maria Josenhans and her husband Marcel. She was already set up and painting! They had come to PTP from Canada and left their car at the Fine Art Center then drove a camper to stay in the LaPush area for a few days. I had to give them the bad news that the car had been broken into while it sat in the parking lot. I was surprised at how well they took the news! Maria just kept on painting! A true plein air artist. If you would like to see her amazing work you can right HERE

One of the great things about an event like Paint the Peninsula is all the great folks you get to meet. There is a long list at this years event and I will try to get to them all.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

It was a perfect day on the beach in LaPush, Washington so I stayed till late afternoon. This is my second painting of the day looking south down the beach.

Help from the crow!

The paper surrounding the painting is protection for the frame that I mounted the panel in. I find it easier to pre-mount the panels into the floater frames and then wrap them for painting competitions like Paint the Peninsula. That way when I'm done painting the wrapping is easily removed and the painting can be hung for judging.

This photo also shows the "help" I received from a crow when I set the painting on a driftwood log and moved down the beach to set up for another scene. Probably thinking it was something tasty to eat, all he got was a beak full of paint! ...Then left me a nice wing swipe through the freshly rendered surf.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Getting up early the following day I raced over to the Fine Art Center to submit the prior days work. After talking with a few of the artists there and grabbing a muffin I headed north to LaPush where I loaded my gear on my trusty cart and started down the trail to Second Beach. The cart turned out to be a liability because of the length of stairs getting down to the beach at the end of the trail. But well worth the effort. Next time I will use my back pack!

I ended up staying there all day and getting three paintings completed!!

Sunday, October 12, 2014

After taking a walk through the meadow with my camera I ran back for my easel to try and capture the amazing light I was seeing in the sun splashed valley that day. Working as quickly and loosely as possible for me, I put the color notes down one by one.

Monday, October 06, 2014

The Elwha river valley is stunning in the fall. We went to paint the river and the falls but I couldn't pass up the challenge of painting the light through these massive big leaf maples. Emiliya Lane was painting the meadow and I captured her in action .

I will be reminding you on each post of our local studio tour coming up in November. If you have been hoping to collect one of my paintings this will be a great opportunity to do that! I will be clearing out a lot of panels, studies and artwork that has been accumulating around the studio for the last few years. This is the only time during the year when I will be selling these items well below current pricing. As usual there will be 2015 desk calendars, cards and prints.

Wednesday, October 01, 2014

I was able to paint two more little ones on Monday the starting day of Paint the Peninsula. It was getting late in the day when I arrived at John Wayne Marina. The sun was setting over the straits of Juan De Fuca and the clouds stretching across the horizon caught my eye. This is the painting after I touched it up. The colors did not strike true to in the original version so I toned it down a bit using my camera monitor.

This is how it looked right off the easel.

I also did another one at Marlyn Nelson Park at the end of Point Williamson Rd. in Sequim. I got there just a bit late and the bluffs were in shadow but I gave it a go anyway.
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